A Young Woman's Heart

"okay."

He nodded, clearly sharing this concern, and then walked away without looking back.

"You're quite kind-hearted."

"It's just basic human decency." Mo Xueyao glanced at Old Chen following behind her. "I couldn't stand up for him when he was being bullied, but now that it's all over, I have to comfort him, right? Otherwise, my conscience won't allow it."

"Haha, as a girl, what good would it do to rush out when he's being bullied? Besides, he's just someone you don't even know, so there's no need to do that."

"So, you adults," Mo Xueyao clicked her tongue, not continuing, "it's really disgusting in here, let's turn back."

"Okay... this vocational school is still the same as always, haha."

Was it like this before?

"Yes, fights and brawls are rampant, and people are often killed."

"Luckily, I got high scores. If I really had to go to a school like that, I would rather not go at all."

"Hahaha—you would never come to such a trashy place."

"That's not necessarily true." She shook her head. Perhaps her hard work in her studies back then stemmed from this same concern?

After all, although she was not afraid of trouble, she was someone who did not like fighting.

Because that was an unnecessary injury.

High school is a watershed moment. In junior high, there were often troublemakers or school bullies. But in high school, even though Yu Kong High School was a regular high school, it was much better than junior high. At least during her year at school, she never heard of anyone forming gangs to bully others.

Occasionally there are fights, but they are just personal conflicts.

However, to be fair, Yukong High School has a pretty good school spirit among key high schools. And don't assume that all key high schools have a good school spirit; even in some key high schools, school bullies still exist...

There are always a few people in this world who have good grades but are particularly wicked.

Good or bad grades do not represent a person's character; they only represent the proportion of people with good or bad character within a certain group.

After emerging from the alley, Mo Xueyao looked at the wide asphalt road and the occasional cars passing by, feeling as if she had finally returned to civilized society.

It felt as if the school gate we just visited was in a completely different country from this one.

"Then... I'm counting on you." Old Chen said solemnly as he stood at the entrance of the fruit shop.

"Actually, you could have just said it yourself."

"Sigh... Sometimes, it's hard to bring myself to force myself to do certain things."

"Well, since that's the case, I'll give it a try. Well, I can only say I'll do my best, and I can't guarantee he'll listen." Mo Xueyao shrugged. "Chen Cheng has always been a stubborn boy at school, and I feel like he's not easy to communicate with."

"It doesn't matter what the result is."

"Well, let's give it a try first. If we don't try, we won't get any results, right?" Mo Xueyao looked at the general store and decided to wait a while and talk to Zhuang Lianlian when there weren't many customers.

—Sometimes, she can be quite a pushover.

If it were Li Wanyan, would she help?

Although I don't know if she will, it's probably better not to help her, because with her strong personality, she'll probably just end up arguing with Chen Cheng.

……

Chapter 108 Let's Talk to Zhuang Lianlian

3 PM.

This is probably the freest time of day.

At this time, most people wouldn't be off work, and those on the morning and afternoon shifts should be at work by now. Those on the night shift are probably still asleep and haven't woken up yet.

The entire street was deserted; there wasn't a single customer in the fruit shops, restaurants, or grocery stores.

In business, unless it's in a particularly good location, it's impossible to have customers coming to your door all the time.

"Why didn't you two go to the library this afternoon?" My mother just came back from the market an hour ago. I don't know what she spent so much time picking out, since she didn't carry that many groceries when she came back.

"I had something to do today," Mo Xueyao replied. She had been so sleepy that she had taken a nap in the rocking chair her mother had used for a short rest.

It turns out that when you're tired enough, you can still fall asleep even when it's hot.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and got up from the chair: "I'm going to the general store to find Lianlian."

"Oh, why do you want to see her?"

"Let's chat, is that not allowed?"

"Oh?" Her mother looked at her with surprise. It was really a rare thing for Mo Xueyao to take the initiative to chat with girls other than Li Wanyan.

You know, Lu Chengyuan from next door sometimes spends the whole day there, and she never goes over to check on her. It's only when Lu Chengyuan knows she's there that she comes over to play.

"Are you trying to freeload on snacks?"

"That was just something I did on the side!" Mo Xueyao said with an embarrassed smile, scratching her chin.

Whenever Grandma Jin is around, she will almost always bring some snacks with her when she goes to the grocery store.

Even if it's just a one-cent Coke candy, they'll stuff a few into your hand.

Sometimes, if you eat something a bit more expensive, you might get some cookies or something similar.

Grandma Jin's excessive enthusiasm can sometimes be a headache, because it's not good to just take food for free every time you go over, right?

Mo Xueyao was not the greedy type of person.

Later, she learned her lesson. Whenever she went there, if Grandma Jin offered her snacks, she would only choose the cheapest ones, such as cola candies or lollipops.

I have a friend who runs a business, and his shop is right next door, which can be quite awkward sometimes.

If the other party accepts the money, they might feel awkward; if they don't accept the money, it will be awkward for me.

Mo Xueyao pondered this long, tongue-twisting conversation in her mind, crossed the side street, walked to the grocery store, lifted the curtain, and went inside.

Li Wanyan, who was kneading the brittle, looked up but did not follow.

At the beginning, Li Wanyan might have felt a little uncomfortable with her parents not being around, but now, Mo Wenli and Yang Xiaoyu are already very close to her, right?

"Welcome... What would you like to order?" Zhuang Lianlian greeted without looking up when she heard footsteps, as if it had become an instinct.

"Lianlian." Mo Xueyao leaned on the counter and called out to her.

"Oh? Oh, it's Haruka. What's up? Do you want to buy something?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to chat with you."

"You want to...have a chat?" Zhuang Lianlian asked, somewhat surprised. "Hmm...what's wrong?"

"About Chen Cheng."

"Huh?" She suddenly became a little nervous.

"Yes, his dad lives in our family's fruit shop."

"I think so too." Zhuang Lianlian seemed to have guessed, or perhaps she had found out through other channels.

"It seems you already know something?"

"Hmm... Could it be that Cheng's father sent you here... to say some good words for him so that they can reconcile?"

"more or less."

“Hmm.” Zhuang Lianlian looked at Mo Xueyao, who was organizing her thoughts, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke first, “But he himself didn’t do well either. As a father, after the divorce, he didn’t care about his son and only gave him some money. For a child, fatherly love is more important, right? Chen Cheng lives alone, which is why he has developed some bad habits and a bad temper. But in reality, he is still a very good person. If his parents were around, he would definitely be better off than he is now.”

"Uh……"

Thinking about it carefully, Chen Cheng was able to get into a regular high school without his parents by his side, which means he must have been either self-motivated or had some talent.

That's indeed the case. Although this guy's personality isn't great, it's not terrible either. Most of the time, he's just awkward.

"I'm sorry, I probably can't help with this... His father will have to apologize in person."

"What apology? ... If you ask me, it's Chen Cheng who should apologize."

"Huh?"

"Actually, his parents divorced not because of marital discord, but because some unforeseen events caused his father to owe a lot of money, and he did so in order not to affect his family."

"what……?"

"His father went to jail for a period of time after the divorce because of debts, and he was released later. The reason for not telling him the truth was that I didn't want him to know that he had a father who was in jail. Of course, at the beginning, it was also because he was still young, so I wanted to give him a stable environment and not have him live that kind of unstable life with the two of them."

Zhuang Lianlian listened with wide eyes: "That's a bit absurd."

“Yes, many times, just because of saving face, a whole bunch of ridiculous jokes can be made.” Mo Xueyao shrugged. “Besides, his father is actually not doing very well now. He has to do his best to save money so that he can give Chen Cheng a thousand yuan a month for living expenses.”

"ah……"

"So you should have a good talk with him. You're probably the only one he can talk to, right? He should listen to what you say."

Zhuang Lianlian fidgeted with her fingers and shook her head: "No...actually, I already told him before, but he was very angry and doesn't like talking about these things. I was afraid he would get angry before I could explain."

"Huh? No way, is that really the case... You don't need to be so afraid of him, do you?"

"As long as we don't talk about this... he listens to me on everything else."

"Tsk." Mo Xueyao stroked her chin. "Never mind, I guess I'm the one who has to say this."

"Huh?"

“Ask him if he’s free, and if so, ask him to come out and meet me.” Mo Xueyao tilted her head and thought for a moment. “The location is… well, in Banshan Park.”

Zhuang Lianlian licked her dry lips: "Well... that's all we can do, but you have to be careful, he can be very irritable sometimes."

"Don't worry, I have a little experience in this kind of thing." Mo Xueyao patted her chest. "You don't need to tell him what it is. Just tell me if he agrees, and then we can arrange a time to meet."

"OK……"

"That's settled then! It's definitely better for a family to be together!"

"That...that...but I..."

"What's wrong?" Mo Xueyao, who was turning around to walk out the door, leaned back.

"My leg..."

"Ah, it's okay," Mo Xueyao comforted her. "I asked Chen Cheng's dad, and he probably doesn't care, or rather, he just lets Chen Cheng do what he wants."